The Truth Shall Set You Free
by serendipity-smiles
Summary: There so much he never said, so much he never admitted to himself, let alone to her As Jason becomes a father and the baby secret comes out, his life changes drastically... But can he live with the changes? This summary sucks :
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"I'm ba-aa-ck! Oh my god, Jase, Fiji was amazing! The water was so clear, and the flowers were incredible. I brought Michael a shark tooth necklace and of course Morgan was jealous because he got a big shell and it wasn't "cool"… they were so excited… hey, wow, you look exhausted. What's going on?"

"A lot has happened since you left…" Jason tried to find the words to explain the situation he had found himself in.

A commotion in the hallway interrupted him, he closed his eyes in acceptance. He knew the confrontation would be coming, he just had hoped to be alone when it happened.

"WHERE IS HE? MORGAN!!!"

Lucky Spencer burst through the door, an angry Milo trying to hold him back.

"It's ok Milo, let him in." Jason sighed and then regained his composure.

"What the hell, Lucky? You can't just barge into Jason's…" Carly whirled on her cousin ready to defend her best friend.

"Shut up! Just shut up Carly! This is none of your business." Lucky snarled as he stalked toward Jason.

"Excuse me, Jason is my best friend… it is my business…" Carly tried to step between the angry man and Jason who was standing quietly by her side.

Jason sensed that Carly was getting into something she wasn't prepared to deal with so he pulled her aside and ordered her to stay put with a sharp look.

"Did your best friend tell you that he slept with my wife?"

"She was your Ex-wife at the time… and yes, he did. But, your perfect wife took advantage…" Carly snarled ready to jump back into the fray.

"Carly stop!" Jason ordered firmly, "Just stop, maybe you should come back later."

"Why should she leave, huh Morgan? Or am I the only person in Port Charles that didn't know Elizabeth was pregnant with your child?" Lucky spat angrily.

Jason focused on Carly's face, her tan from Fiji quickly fading into a deathly pallor. Her eyes begging him to tell her it wasn't true, her body beginning to shake, all signs of fight quickly leaving her.

So intent upon each other, neither noticed the gun Lucky pulled from his jacket.

"Carly…" Jason reached for her hand, but in her shock she flinched and yanked her hand from his grasp.

A familiar clicking sound snapped his head around and his eyes focused on the gun in Lucky's hand.

His eyes met Lucky's crazed and full of anger. The next few minutes happened in slow motion.

"You can't have my family! I won't let you…" Lucky roared as he pulled the trigger.

A scream filled the air and Jason recognized it as Carly's. He didn't think to dodge the bullet, hell, realistically he hadn't expected Lucky to actually pull the trigger, but he was vaguely aware of trying to push Carly out of harm's way…

Closing his eyes he waited to feel the burning pain that usually followed, but it never came.

The room was eerily silent until Lucky moaned, "Oh god, what have I done?"

Jason opened his eyes and for the first time his mind registered a heavy weight in his arms.

"No… no… Carly?" Jason started panicking. Slowly he lowered the dead weight of her body to the ground.

"I didn't mean… I didn't mean for it to be her…"Lucky babbled as he rushed over to Carly's side.

"Come on baby… come on Carly… open your eyes."

"Here Mr. Morgan, put this against her wound." Milo handed Jason something to stop the blood flow.

When had Milo come in the room?

"Jase?" a weak whisper focused his attention back on the woman lying beside him.

"Hey you… everything is going to be ok…" He quickly tried to reassure her.

"It's hurts." She moaned softly.

"I know baby… just lie still." Trying to hold her still he looked up a Milo and read the same sense of dread in the younger man's eyes. She was losing too much blood.

"No… not bullet… baby." She muttered as Carly felt herself start to feel the pull of the darkness.

Jason knew what she meant and it tore at his heart. She was telling him that it hurt more to find out that Elizabeth had his child than to be shot.

"Carly… Carly, it's Lucky. You have to know I didn't mean it…" Lucky cried as he watched the life slowly draining away from his cousin.

"I know… Shhh, I know Luc-cky. It was an accident… Jase, it was an accid—,"Carly let the blackness win. In the dark it didn't hurt so bad, in the dark she didn't have to remember that Elizabeth had given birth to Jason's child.

Jason began to panic, "Damn it Carly! You hold on… you can't leave me and if you do I swear to everything holy I will never forgive you!"

Seeing the EMT's come through the door Jason had never been so thankful.

"What happened?" One of the men asked as he bent down to look at the wound.

"Officer Spencer was showing Carly how to work the safety on his weapon… it was an accident." Jason shot Milo and Lucky both a glance to get them to stay quiet. If Carly said she wanted it to be an accident then that is what it was.

Jason never knew how what exactly he happened or how he ended up in the back of the ambulance, but that was where he found himself when the crisis hit.

"She's going into de-fib. Get the paddles…" The same EMT from in the penthouse tore open Carly's blouse and cut off her bra. There was so much blood… Jason's heart clenched painfully.

"Come on baby! Stay with me… stay with me… He held her hand tight in his and looking down at them he wouldn't have known where her hand ended and where his began except for the blood covering his hands. Carly's blood…

"Please baby… you can't leave me, you promised you never would… I can't be a father without you… I'll screw everything up… I won't let him eat junk food… I'll make him stay clean all of the time… If you die I'll marry Liz…" Jason feverishly kissed Carly's limp hand holding it tight in his grasp. He was so distraught that he didn't even realize he was crying, tears streaming down his face.

"We've got a pulse… she's lost a lot of blood and its weak, but its there." The EMT who had been using the paddles breathed a sigh of relief, "She must not you want you to marry this Elizabeth chick.

Jason chuckled in relief, leave it to that threat to be the one to keep Carly with him.

"Alright, you win. But, I swear I will if you don't get your shit together. I can't live without you." Jason felt his heart skip a beat, surely Carly had just squeezed his hand and it wasn't his imagination.

General Hospital finally came into view and Jason ran a hand threw his hair hoping they had gotten here in time.

"She's a fighter." One of the EMTs commented.

"You have no idea." Jason leaned forward and whispered in Carly's ear, "Don't make a liar out of me Carly… you better fight to stay with me… one more time, and I promise you'll never want to leave me again."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jason stared at the blood on his hands, Carly's blood. This scene was all too familiar. It hadn't even been a year since he had been in a similar situation with Sam, only this time Carly had chosen to get shot. She had actively chosen to shield his body from harm with hers.

A little voice in the back of his head kept taunting him; _it's different because she's the one you love._

Was that it? Or was it just the thought of losing the one person who always had his back, who would walk through fire to save him?

"Oh my god! Jason what happened?" Emily ran up to her brother in fear, "Where are you bleeding?"

"It's not me, it's not mine…" Jason mumbled in a daze.

"Whose is it? What happened?" Emily tried to get her brother to look at her but he just stood facing the ER operating room doors waiting with a worried look on his face.

"Carly… it's Carly… they don't know if…" Unable to finish his sentence and unable to let his sister see him break down, he turned and walked away. He didn't know where he was going; he only knew he had to do something besides stand there like a dumbass.

"Oh please, I know I am not supposed to say this, but wouldn't the world be just a little nicer if that woman died?" Robin chuckled and nudged Emily in the ribs.

In the moments that Emily had exchanged that tiny bit of conversation with her brother it had hit her, Jason loved Carly, not just as a friend, but something more. Whether or not he had realized it she didn't know, but she hoped for his sake that Carly pulled through this.

Turning she threw a solemn glance at Robin, "You know after the hostage incident how everyone said I was the one that saved your life, well, I may have done the surgery, but Carly risked _her_ life just so that _I_ could do the surgery. If hadn't been for her arguing with the head guy, you would have bled to death."

Seeing that she had made her point and chosen her stance, Emily quietly walked away. She needed to call Jax… and have Bobbie paged… where had Jason gone?

Jason stood outside the nursery staring threw the window at his son. His own piece of immortality lie in an incubator just three feet away. He couldn't blame this innocent child for the events that had taken place, but he could blame himself and maybe Liz. If they had handled this different, maybe Lucky wouldn't have lost it.

"Jason?"

Turning he noticed that Monica was standing next to him, a worried look on her face.

"I've been paged to operate on Carly. The bullet nicked something and she is bleeding internally, the bullet could be the only thing keeping her from bleeding to death."

Jason gave a terse nod and waited for her to continue.

"I know technically I should be asking Jax, but we can't seem to get a hold of him. Carly as you listed as her representative in this kind of situation, so I need to ask you…" Monica cleared her throat, there was no easy way to ask what she had to ask.

"Do what you have to do to save her." Jason didn't wait for her to finish as he replied without hesitation.

Monica placed a hand on his shoulder and turned to walk away. A warm hand grabbed hers, stopping her in motion. Turning she looked back at her son in question.

"Mom, I need her. Please, don't let her die." Jason looked straight into Monica's eyes in a silent plea.

Monica gave him a quick nod, "Why don't you get cleaned up? It's ok. I'll take care of her, I promise."

Carly opened her eyes.

Where was she?

The fresh smell of roses lingered in the air and a sense of peace filled her. Roses? Had Jax bought roses for her?

Looking around she realized that she could see nothing but white in every direction.

"Go back! For god sake woman, can't you do anything right?"

Carly gasped and spun around in disbelief, "Alan?"

"Unfortunately, yes, it's me." Alan complained.

"Ok, the last time I cracked I didn't see dead people… come on Carly, this is just a really weird dream." Carly closed her eyes, squeezed them tight and then reopened them.

Nothing changed. The late Alan Quartermaine was standing right in front of her.

Fear clutched her heart, "Does this mean… am I… am I dead?"

"Not yet. I'd be thrilled if that was the case, then Jason would be free of you. I always told A. J. that you ruined his life and look how he ended up. Ouch!"

"What?" Carly looked around expectantly.

"That was mother. She makes sure that I feel her displeasure. Alright! I'll do it." Alan looked up as if to agree with someone.

"Lila's here? That would be why I smell the roses." Carly smiled. She had always loved Lila. She couldn't see or smell roses without remembering her.

"No she's made it to heaven, unlike me who's forced to stick around and make sure people like my sister and that no good uncle of yours act right… Anyway, that's neither here nor there. The point is whenever I do something she approves of the smell of roses fills the air. So you can imagine it doesn't happen to often." Alan actually smiled at that.

"So, I'm not dead, but I could die, and you're here because?" Carly let the question hang in the air.

"I'm here because if you die that son of my will never find happiness. For some unknown reason he needs you…" Alan looked up again as if anticipating some response to his comment, "And because as much as I don't approve of you, you did save his life."

"Oh yeah, I remember… we were standing in the penthouse… Lucky shot me." Carly looked up for confirmation.

"Yeah, who would have thought such a nice boy would do something so terrible. Anyway, I have things to do so… Just go back. Fight to stay, you like to fight it should come easy."

Before Carly could comment Alan started to walk away. "Fight? How? Don't you think I would if I could?"

Alan turned impatiently, "Look, I said what I was supposed to say, the rest is up to the man upstairs… Oh, do me a favor, if you see Monica tell her… Tell her I'm waiting."

Jason sat in the waiting room, his head in his hands.

Milo had shown up with a clean shirt and pants for him, but he still felt as if he were covered in her blood.

Sonny was pacing the floor nervously, a frown on his face. He had been understandably upset to find out that Carly was shot and he was even more upset when he found out that no one had been able to locate Jax yet.

"Jason?"

Jason stood up and walked toward a tired Monica.

"She made it through surgery. We managed to stop the bleeding, but… well, we lost her for a few minutes on the operating table and I won't know the extent of the damage it caused until she wakes up. She's in stable condition for the moment."

Jason looked at Sonny and saw the relief mirroring his own in the other man's eyes.

"Monica, can I see here?" Sonny asked.

Monica looked at Jason and saw him tense up in reaction to Sonny's attempt to claim "his" territory.

"She's going to be in SICU for at least 4 hours, then we'll move her into ICU… You won't be able to see her until the morning, I'm sorry."

Sonny gave her an accepting nod and turning to Jason he managed to hold his own fear in check.

"I'll keep the boys at my house… God only knows where Jax is. Do you want me to take care of Spencer?"

Jason understood what he was being asked and shook his head in the negative.

"I've got it under control. I'm just going to go up a check on the baby… and Liz." He added in almost an after thought.

After Sonny left Jason turned toward Monica, "Thank you."

"Jason… if you want to see Carly for a second, I might be able to sneak you in."

Wearily Jason smiled, "I was going to try and sneak in later anyway."

"I know." Monica smiled and led Jason to Carly's room.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Let's just put it this way- There is no Craig/Jerry going on and Amelia is just a producer not a crazy plottin' on Sam and the baby is going to be Jacob Alan… I like the Jacob (even if it's referring to a bar in this case), but Alan after the obvious- Alan Quartermaine…**_

_**FYI… I'm not a doctor, so the medical knowledge should be ok for "soap opera" drama**__****_

Chapter 3

Rubbing a hand over his tied eyes, Jason entered the penthouse. It was dark and silent, and for a moment he thought Sam had stayed in Manhattan another night.

But, then he saw her sitting quietly on the couch.

"Hey."

"Hi, I got in earlier than I planned, so I was going to surprise you, but you weren't here." Sam said as she got off the couch and moved toward him.

When Jason didn't immediately say anything she sighed, "I also called your cell phone several times, but you didn't answer. Is something going on?"

"Why would you think that?" Jason stalled for time. He had been dreading this conversation for months and right now he was just too tired and worried to make sure he handled this situation right.

"Well, Elizabeth Spencer called here looking for you… twice. It seems Lucky took off and she is desperate to talk to you. She seemed to think you might be at the hospital."

"I was. Did she say why Lucky left?"

"No, but she didn't seem too concerned. I kind of got the impression that she didn't know where he went, or if he would come back. Doesn't that seem odd to you? I mean, why would he take off when their child is going to be born any day now?"

"Elizabeth had the baby two days ago." Jason turned and walked over to the bar and poured himself a glass of whiskey.

"Oh, well, that's good. So do you have a son or daughter?" Sam asked coming up to stand behind Jason.

Putting the glass down without even taking a swallow Jason slowly turned. "I have a son. How long have you known the baby was mine?"

"Well, at first I believed you… you said the baby was Lucky's and I was so desperate to believe it that I didn't even doubt it. But, then Elizabeth kept coming around, finding excuses to call you, and she was always watching you… rubbing her stomach and watching you… and I knew… a woman notices these things. What I want to know, no, what I need to know is when you found out, I mean, were you even going to tell me?"

Jason tried to feel sympathy as he took in the glassy shine of tears in Sam's eyes but he couldn't. His mind was working quickly and he wondered, if he said hadn't known or if Elizabeth hadn't told him, would Sam have said anything to him at all? Thinking about the things Sam had said and done throughout the whole conversation, the warning bells in his head began to go off. He knew when she was lying.

"I hadn't planned on telling you because I was never supposed to claim him, he was going to be raised by Elizabeth and Lucky and no one was going to know he was my child. If you would have told me when you found out then the last two months wouldn't have been hell on earth. You knew didn't you… forget the bullshit!" Jason bellowed as Sam tried to interrupt, a guilty flush climbing her neck.

"I was willing to sacrifice my own son, my flesh and blood, so that you wouldn't be hurt… that is the only reason… to hell with Lucky! I could've convinced Elizabeth to let me claim my son… but you… if I hadn't found out… you weren't planning on telling me were you." Jason stated calmly… his anger just barely hidden under the surface.

"I don't know… I was so hurt, but at first I dealt with it… and then I found out I couldn't have a child of my own… I didn't want to adopt and I didn't want you to have the child of another woman… If I couldn't have children, then neither could you…" She raised her chin in defiance and it was at that moment Jason realized that he had only be going through the motions for months. Any love he had felt for her had died the night she screwed Ric.

"So this was revenge?" Jason asked quietly.

"No… I don't know. I was hurt Jason. I couldn't think straight, but now… now we both know about the baby and we can work things out… there are no more secrets or lies between us." Sam pleaded as tears started trickling down her face.

"Us? There is no "us". Whatever the hell we were, or whatever was left of what we were, it ended the second you found out about my child and didn't tell me… It's over, we are over. Now, I am tired and I need to take a shower… when I come back down stairs, I want you gone… I don't care where the hell you go… just go. I'll have your stuff sent to Alexis' house."

Jason turned and walked away letting the cries and sobs of the woman he had once loved with all his heart fall on deaf ears and the sad thing was, it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would.

Carly struggled to open her eyes. "Jase?" She mumbled weakly.

Her eyes began to focus, but she didn't need to see to know she was alone. He had left her. She had taken a bullet for him and he had left her.

Something wasn't right… she couldn't seem to focus on anything and the room was fading in and out. Where was everyone?

"Hey… Carly." Jax called out to her as he walked into the room.

"They are going to move you, so I am only going to talk for a second. When you wake up again I'll be right there with you ok, so just go back to sleep, sweetie." Jax murmured trying to sooth her.

"Jason?" She asked feebly. Talking seemed to take a lot of effort.

"Jason? I haven't seen him. I've been waiting out in the waiting area for three hours by myself… Do you want me to call him?"

Carly tried to shake her head, but it seemed too heavy, "Hot… so hot…"

Jax frowned; the room was freezing to him. Taking his hand and laying it against her cheek he jerked back in reaction. She was burning up… could an infection spread so fast?

"Nurse! Carly? Baby, no you're going to hurt yourself! NURSE!!" Jax started yelling for the nurse as Carly started to struggle out from underneath the covers…

She was so hot! She had to get out of here… she was going to be burnt alive.

"JASON! HELP! JASON!" She started screaming… in her mind, chains were keeping her from being able to escape, she couldn't see Jax or the two nurses running into the room. The heat and the pain from her struggles blinding out all sense of reason she screamed in agony for Jason to save her.

"Where's the sedative? Call Dr. Quartermaine stat… she has a high temperature and she's ripping her sutures…" the nurse screamed to a third nurse standing just outside the door.

Carly never even noticed her husband or the nurses staring at her in concern. The drugs hit her IV fast and a wave of calm swept over her.

Sobbing quietly she mumbled, "He said he wouldn't leave…"

"I'm right here, honey." Jax croaked as he was overcome with fear for his wife.

After speaking with Dr. Quartermaine the nurse ran back into the room to confer with the other two nurses for a moment and then as if a switch had been turned they sprang into action.

"Mr. Jax, your wife might have damaged the sutures inside as well as the outside. Dr, Quartermaine is going to meet us in the OR and she's going to see what's going and why she's spiking a fever… we'll let you know as soon as we find something out."

Giving him a sympathetic look they quickly wheeled the sedated woman out of the room leaving a distraught husband standing there helplessly.

"So he left you this note?" Emily asked as she scanned the paper in her hand.

"I can't blame him, can I? I mean, he's hurt and being around me and the baby, seeing us with Jason is just going to make things worse. I never meant to hurt him, but in a way I'm a really glad he found out…"

"Stop for a second, you just recommitted to Lucky… wedding and all. You stood in front of your friends and family and pledged your love to him and now it's like you could care less if he were here or not. Nothing about this is good." Emily just kept staring at her friend as if she was crazy…

"I do love Lucky…I just want what's best for the baby. Lucky isn't willing to accept the fact that Jason is the father…" Finally as if she couldn't even follow her own logic Elizabeth let her emotions explode, "Well what the hell do you want me to do? What can I do because the damage is done? Lucky is probably off scoring some pills as we speak."

"I don't know Elizabeth…" Emily paused to listen to the announcement being sent over the intercom.

_Code Blue… SICU… Code Blue…_

"What? What's going on?" Elizabeth sniffled.

"Nothing… I'll be back…" Emily hit the door at a run. She crossed her fingers and said a quick prayer… _Please don't let something have happened to Carly… Jason will never forgive me. _

Emily pumped into Jax as she made it to the Waiting Room.

"What's going on?" She gasped out of breath.

"I don't know… something happened… they were getting ready to move her and… God, I can't lose her…" Jax broke off and went to stare out the window.

Emily went over to the nurses' station seeking answers.

"What is going on with Carly Cori- I mean Carly Jax?"

"All I know is that there have been complications… which could mean one of two things, one, she's bleeding inside, two, infection, or three she's just not going to make it." The nurse said as she moved to answer the ringing phone.

Emily grabbed her cell phone and quickly dialed Jason's number.

_Come on… Come on… you have to pick up…_

As Sam moved to walk out the door the sound of the phone stopped her. To hell with it she thought… It's probably Elizabeth about the baby… and closing the door behind her she left the penthouse for the last time.

I am not going to completely hate on Elizabeth because I like her with Lucky (when they wrote him well)… we'll see how far this story goes.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As Jason stepped into the hospital he decided to call Emily to check on Carly first so that he could go and find out what was happening with Liz. Reaching into his pocket he realized that his cell phone was gone.

Damn it, I left it on the charger, he thought with a groan… He was beyond tired, so his only excuse for his forgetfulness was exhaustion…

Knocking on the door, he called into Elizabeth's room before he entered.

"Hey daddy! Look who's here to visit Jacob… I've been trying to call you."

Jason smiled at the picture in front of him. Elizabeth was beautiful, but his son was amazing…

"Jacob?"

"Well, we had both said we liked the name Jacob before, so… I named him Jacob Alan, if that's ok with you." Elizabeth batted her eyes and smiled shyly at Jason.

"Yeah… that's great. Um, since everyone knows I'm his dad, he can have my last name right?" Jason asked as he carefully took the little bundle from his mother's arms.

Elizabeth pouted prettily, "I don't know, Cam and I are both Spencers'… it wouldn't be right for his to be different."

This wasn't a conversation Jason was anywhere near ready to have, but he knew if he didn't let his feelings be known now, he might cave later.

"I want him to have my last name. I _am_ his father… there's no reason to hide it or deny it… I want my son." Jason finished rather firmly.

"Well, it's not that easy. I am his mother and legally Lucky is his father in the eyes of the court… and what do you mean you want your son? Are you going to try and take him from me?"

"No… no, of course not… hey, don't cry Elizabeth. We'll work something out." Jason promised.

"It's just Lucky took off and I'm alone… I'm supposed to take the baby home tomorrow…" Elizabeth sniffled daintily.

"Look, you aren't alone. I promise. I'm not going anywhere." Jason kissed Jacob on the head and handed him back to his mother.

"Did Lucky say anything about why he was leaving?" Jason asked nonchalantly.

"Only something about having to clear his head because he had screwed up… why?"

"We'll talk later ok. I'm going to come tomorrow and take you and little Jake home… just call Emily if you need me before then ok, she'll know how to reach me."

"Emily? What's going on Jason? Why can't I just call your cell phone?"

"I left it at home… ok. Just take care of the little guy and get some rest ok." Jason smiled and quickly headed to the other side of the hospital. Hopefully, Emily would agree to keep Lucky shooting Carly a secret for the time being.

"Jason!" Emily jumped up and rushed to her brother's side.

"What happened?" Panic hit Jason like a ton of bricks.

"It's Carly…" Emily began to explain what had happened when Jax walked up.

"How in the hell did my wife get shot in your penthouse? Is this how you repay her loyalty, by getting her killed?" Jax grabbed Jason by the collar.

"What? What's going on, dammit? Where's Carly?" Jason growled as he pushed the angry Aussie away.

"There were complications and she might die, is that what you want to know? I can't do anything to help her… Even standing right next to her and holding her hand, she wouldn't calm down… she wanted you… and I couldn't do anything." Jax walked away leaving a silent Emily and Jason standing in his wake.

"Is that true? Did she call for me?" Jason turned and asked Emily his eyes stinging with tears.

"I don't know… I wasn't there…"

Jason did say a word, his mouth opened but quickly shut as he fought the urge to scream in frustration.

Taking a deep breath he rubbed his jaw and wishing he had never left her in the first place.

"Jax?" Monica walked out into the waiting area, the look on her face showed that she was concerned.

"Monica? How's my wife?" The Aussie asked, his face a mask of dread.

"There's no easy way to say this… Carly has an infection in her heart, she has slipped into a coma…" Monica looked at her son and seeing the stricken look on his face she longed to wrap her arms around him and make things ok.

"Now, Jason, if you remember how it was with her head injury you'll understand what we are facing. If she wakes up in the next 48 to 72 hours I would say her chances of a complete recovery are good, but the longer she stays in a coma the more her body will start to shut down."

"Can't you do something?" Jax asked his eyes red with unshed tears.

"Unfortunately, we haven't been able to determine what kind of infection is attacking her heart and where it came from… so the best we can do is use a general antibiotic and pray it works."

Jax wiped the moisture from his eyes and turned to leave.

Concerned Emily rushed to his side, "Jax, where are you going? Maybe you should sit down."

"I have to… I have to go… think. Just call me if there are any changes…" Jax walked off without another word looking tired and defeated.

"Jason?" Monica stood watching her son and not knowing what he was thinking, she took a chance and gave him a hug.

When he didn't reject her embrace she grew hopeful, "I don't need to tell you that sometimes the body goes into a coma to give the person a chance to heal…"

"You don't get it… I wasn't here. When Alan died I wasn't here… now, when she needed me… Can I go sit with her?"

Monica ushered Jason back to Carly's temporary room. Monitors beeped and wires and IV tubes seemed to becoming from every direction.

"Robin is doing some tests, maybe she can narrow down the infection enough to make the treatment more effective… you can't give up Jason, she wouldn't give up on you…" Monica placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I'm the infection… I broke her heart… I did this…" Jason slowly pulled a chair over to Carly's bed and laid his head across her lap. Monica quietly left even though she wanted to stay and offer her support.

After a few minutes Jason looked up and took Carly's hand.

"Do you know how many times we've beat the odds? We can do it again, just take whatever time you need… just come back to me, to us… how can I raise a child without your expertise? Who's going to plan his first birthday party? His christening… come on Liz probably has good taste, but you… you are the only person I trust to make it perfect. I know I haven't been the best of friends lately. I kept a secret from you… I hurt you… please come back to me." Kissing her hand he laid his head back down and let the steady rise and fall of her chest lull him to sleep.


End file.
